Comfort Inn 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

6 | 2009 Annual Review
2009
to enable us to deliver our franchisees increased
property-level support designed to drive their
success. The strong relationship we have with our
owners, and the value proposition our brands and
services represent to our franchisees, will drive our
ongoing growth. At the same time, with a strong
balance sheet we are in position to be able to
simultaneously invest in and expand our emerging
brands and global footprint.
To continue to grow our business and market
share in this challenging environment, our
strategic focus in 2010 will be on improving
our core portfolio of brands, investing in future
growth, driving reservations to Choice-brand
hotels, improving operational performance, and
maximizing financial and shareholder returns.
The company’s execution in these arenas and a
continued unrelenting focus on franchisee profit-
ability and satisfaction will drive continued global
growth and strong financial performance.
Improve Our Core Portfolio
of Brands
During 2010, we will continue to focus on
growing our seven already established brands —
Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn,
Clarion, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn.
For each of these brands, we have dedicated
strategies designed to drive improved perfor-
mance and overall portfolio profitability.
For these core brands, Choice Hotels in 2010
will focus its cross-brand functions on supporting
franchisees through a challenging economic envi-
ronment by improving the quality of on-property
services and hotel-level performance by support-
ing the company’s ongoing brand-level initiatives,
delivering a broader range of operational training
and local sales and marketing programs and
offering an evolving range of online and in-per-
son educational programs. These efforts should
serve to improve guest satisfaction and enhance
long-term brand equity.
This family of diversified brands remains well-
known by both consumers and hotel developers.
Over the past five years, according to Smith
Travel Research statistics, we continue to be the
leading domestic gainer of market share among
major hotel companies, with Choice-brand hotels
representing 9.6% of all branded hotels at year-
end 2009, which firmly positions Choice Hotels
as the second-largest hotelier in the United
States as measured by hotels open — up 20 basis
points over year-end 2008 and 160 basis points
in five years.
Invest in Future Growth
Opportunities
Continuing to improve the profitability of the
core portfolio will allow Choice Hotels to generate
revenue to invest in the company’s long-term
growth brands, international expansion, and
growth through corporate development.
We remain confident in the long-term growth
prospects for our upscale Cambria Suites brand,
even as it currently faces development chal-
lenges due to the credit environment. The brand
continues to enjoy extraordinarily high guest
satisfaction ratings. Management will continue to
identify creative ways to facilitate development
with capital financing solutions for new Cambria
prospects and provide incremental financing
solutions to stimulate construction starts.